Category: Listen

Pierre Boulez turns 90 on 26th March. Where has the time gone. Miss Mussel has always had a soft spot for M. Boulez due in large part to his resemblance to Grandpère Mussel. Aside from that claim to fame, he’s…

If you prefer turtlenecks to waistcoats, this is your stream. L’Ensemble Intercontemporain comes live from the new Philharmonie in Paris. The very first piece ever played in the hall was Varèse’ Tuning Up, followed by Dutilleux’ violin concerto, so the…

Les Arts Florissants, directed by William Christie and now in its 35th year is one of the three resident ensembles at Paris’ new Philharmonie. Program is: Charpentier – Te Deum H.146 Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville – Motet In exitu Israel`…

Now that Niklaus, Santa and the Christkind have gone, we’re stuck in that pleasant limbo before the Three Kings turn up and plunge us all back into usefulness. Languid days, pleasant though they are, benefit from a least a slight…

Promised for several Christmases and never quite delivered thanks to a variously infuriating string of technical malfunctions. This year, I’m going to Leipzig to hear the piece performed live. With real people. And hopefully real serpents. But. For the restivus,…

Not only do we have a free download of Once In Royal David’s City, there is also a peak at part of the 2014 Christmas from King’s 9 Lessons & Carols service DVD. Good tidings of great joy, which shall…

Once in Royal David’s City is traditionally the first sung at the King’s College 9 Lessons & Carols service. It builds from a single treble to full choir, organ and descant. In a home listening situation, it is at its…

I’ve heard a lot of O Holy Nights over 5 years of putting together musical Advent calendars. (There are 57 here, should you be interested in a broader survey.) I’ve even spoken to the man behind the epically terrible version…

On the left, Diana Damrau. On the right, Anatol from Bochum who will come to your house or senior’s home and play his accordion. Today marks two years since Miss Mussel arrived in the Deutschland. Where has the time gone?…

It’s not just Mariah who’s having a 20th anniversary this year. Adam Sandler’s legendary Chanukah Song first appeared on his 1996 album, but was written in 1994. Or at least, so says Wikipedia. And if it’s on the internet, it’s…

In which Diana Krall makes olden times and ancients rhymes seem the most tragic possible thing. Everything is a reminder of what isn’t. Still, as an introspective/borderline depressive alternative to the blinking lights and HO! HO! HO! aggression, there’s nothing…

In dulci jubilo by Michael Praetorius from A Year at Exeter Cathedral Should the smoothness of the refined sound of a cathedral not really be your thing, look no further that this little bit of fantastic from Mike Oldfield c….

This performance by the William Schuman Singers is perfect accompaniment those last few minutes of manic cleaning and kitchen prep before the guests arrive. Or anyone wanting to indulge in 1950s housewife domestic fantasies wherein you vacuum in a party…

After yesterday’s 11/10 loudissimo Adeste Fideles explosion, it seems right and meet to bring it down to a more human scale. The oldest hymns, Christmas or otherwise, often have these delightfully higgledy, piggledy rhythms about them and complex harmony as…